Rating the 2010 Winter Vancouver Olympic Games

Hang on for a minute...we're trying to find some more stories you might like.

Email This Story

Send email to this addressEnter Your NameAdd a comment hereVerification

For my editorial this week, I am going to sum up the Olympic Games that just concluded with a list of the five best and five worst moments!

Erin Ennis, Assistant Editor

First, the five worst moments of the Olympic Games in Vancouver:

5. Lindsey Jacobellis. Just like last year, Lindsey choked during crunch time and was unable to do anything significant during her runs. As always, she is unable to deliver and lets the American fans down.

4. Kim Yu-Na of South Korea won gold Thursday night in one of the most stunning displays of women’s skating in the history of the Olympic Games. Yet her home country said in multiple interviews that she would be shunned for anything less than perfection. Talk about pressure…and relative insanity. Don’t worry Kim; the American fans think you did fantastic…no matter what medal you received. Congratulations on your hard work…and to the South Koreans…learn to respect your athletes!

3. Talk about being hot headed. After losing to American Evan Lysacek, Evgeni Plushenko lost it. He felt he deserved a higher score because his tricks were technically more difficult than Lysacek’s. Newsflash buddy: get over yourself! Stop turning your gigantic Russian nose up towards everyone and learn some tact!

2. For those who didn’t see it, Shaun White secured gold on the Half Pipe before he even completed his second run. Him and his coach were discussing, very colorfully, his plans for his “free” run…and people freaked out over the F Word. SERIOUSLY!? The kid won gold without even having to finish and was given the chance of a lifetime to do whatever he wanted. He didn’t know the boom microphone was in his face…so stop complaining! He was fantastic and his speech shouldn’t be on display…just his talent!

1. The death of the Georgian luger…enough said. RIP and sympathies to the Georgian team and his family.

Secondly, the five best moments of the Olympic Games in Vancouver:

5. Bode Miller redeemed himself from last year, securing three medals (gold, silver, and bronze) to reclaim himself as a skiing champion

4. The USA bobsledding team won gold 62 years after the last win. Congrats!

3. Apollo Anton Ono is now officially the most decorated Winter Olympian of all time with 8 medals. Between him and Michael Phelps, the United States is home to the best Olympians in the world!

2. Canadian Joannie Rochette skated a nearly perfect short program and a beautiful long program for the bronze medal just days after her mother’s death. Rochette showed Canada, and the world, the power of perseverance. Her performance was unbelivably moving…I couldn’t imagine having to perform under those conditions.

1. Evan Lysacek defeated the cocky and annoying Evgeni Plushenko to secure the first US men’s skating gold since Brian Boitano. The performance was spectacular, technically perfect, and absolutely heart stopping. Evan has also been able to stand up to the scrutiny with extraordinary grace. Congratulations!

2 Comments

2 Responses to “Rating the 2010 Winter Vancouver Olympic Games”

Rob on
March 4th, 2010 1:03 am

Yeah, the previous Winter Olympics were four years ago, not “last year”, and beyond the Olympics, Jacobellis is the most decorated female snowboarder in history. It annoys me when people watch the Olympics every four years, then think that makes them an expert on snowboarding (or any other winter sport). She didn’t let anyone down, she fell. It happens. Americans are ridiculously serious about these things. It’s sad.

Thanks for the year correction: my mistake.
I don’t consider myself an expert by any means…I don’t really think anyone other than those participating can consider themselves experts. But it is very similar to football: I am a die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan, and while Donovan Mcnabb may statistically be one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, he fails to deliver in the clutch. It doesn’t make him a poor athlete, he’s still fantastic, but it lets the fans down every year. I feel Jacobellis does the same thing at every Olympic games…she is supposed to be a huge contender, but ends up being a bigger disappointment. Many could have said the same about Bode Miller if he hadn’t delivered this year…but he was able to.
Overall…I think she does let Americans down. And we may be ridiculously serious, but we enjoy cheering our athletes on. I’d still watch every single race Jacobellis was in and will be in during her career…but I also have no problem calling her out when she can’t come through.
Besides…it’s just my opinion…and I enjoyed your counter argument!